Consequences
by MagellinaFluffQueen
Summary: Claudia wakes up in a strange place. Is this all some kind of dream she's having, or is it something...bigger? Rated t for  language. Sequel to "Reverberations", won't make much sense if you haven't read that. It's only three chapters, go read it!
1. Not at Home

** WARNING: This is kind of a sequel to Reverberations. If you haven't read that one, certain aspects of this story won't make sense. I highly recommend you read that one first; it's only three chapters.**

** Also, please note that I made up these names. I have no idea what Claudia's parent's first names are.**

** Disclaimer: I don't own Warehouse 13 and make no money from this.**

Chapter One

Not at Home

Claudia wakes up in a huge fluffy feather bed. "Where am I?" she whispers suspiciously. She gets out of bed and paces, examining the small room. Yellow wallpaper with paisleys on it. Dark mahogany furniture. And a calendar... with cats on it. Claudia hates cats. She goes to have a closer look, thinking maybe she is in a motel somewhere? But surely she would remember that; her first real assignment as a Warehouse agent, of course she'd remember it.

She peers at the calendar and gasps, very confused. The date is April 12, 2011. Just then the bedroom door opens and a woman with bright red hair enters.

"Honey! You've slept late this morning!" Claudia stares. This couldn't possibly be her mother. Her mother died when Claudia was five. But here she is, the same as Claudia remembers her, albeit a little older and heavier. She continues to beam at Claudia as she asks, "What would you like for breakfast, sweetie?"

Claudia backs away, keeping her eyes on the woman who isn't her mom. "W-who are you, what do you want?" she hisses. Miranda Donovan's eyes fill with tears.

"Oh dear. The doctors said you hadn't been taking your medication, but I didn't think... GARY!" A man who looked exactly like Claudia's father runs into the room and grabs Claudia's wrists. She struggles against his grip and screams.

"Who the hell are you people? Where am I? Where are Pete and Myka and _why_ do you look like my parents?"

The woman starts to cry and tries to pat Claudia's hand reassuringly, but she jerks away. "You're home, you're safe." Claudia laughs hysterically. "This isn't home! Why am I not at Leena's?" Miranda Donovan shakes her head sympathetically and whispers soothingly, "It's going to be all right." Then she stabs Claudia with a needle and she loses consciousness.


	2. A Different Life

** Thanks to those people who reviewed. And sorry for the length of the first chapter. I'll try to make this one longer. Beta'd by CMDonovann**

** Disclaimer: I don't own Warehouse 13. I don't make a profit on this.**

Chapter 2

A Different Life

Claudia wakes up strapped to a bed this time, in a hospital. _Oh great._ she thinks angrily. _If I ever find that bitch pretending to be my mother, I'll-_

But her thought is left unfinished as the woman and man resembling her parents enter the room, accompanied by a doctor. Claudia pulls against the restraints and shouts at the woman. "Who are you?" Why are you doing this?"

The doctor approaches the bed and looks at Claudia with the simpering, 'we understand' kind of look she had grown to loathe during her time in the nut house.

"I'm Doctor Hanson. You're very confused, Claudia." She rolls her eyes.

"No, I think not. I'm not supposed to be here, I'm supposed to be in South Dakota, I-" The doctor cut her off.

"No, Claudia, you're not. You've been having the dreams again, haven't you? The dreams about the Warehouse?" Claudia glares at him.

"What are you talking about, dude?"

The doctor turns to her 'parents'. "It's part of her delusion. She thinks she works for a top-secret government facility in South Dakota." Claudia shrieks with mirthless laughter. "I don't THINK I work there, I DO work there. What is going on here?"

Miranda Donovan moves to stand beside the bed. "You're not well, Claudia. For the past three years you've been a patient at the state mental hospital."

Claudia's head reels. "For WHAT?" she yells.

"Delusions. Schizophrenia. Bipolar disorder." Gary Donovan says, joining Miranda by the bed. "You came home to visit, the doctors thought it would be okay, but..."

"That's bullshit! I got OUT of the bell jar three years ago! I found Artie and we saved Joshua." At the mention of the name the parents glance at each other. The doctor clears his throat. "You brother died eight years ago in a hit and run accident." Claudia spits in his face. "Joshua's FINE." she says in a dangerous voice. "He's working at CERN." Miranda starts to cry into Gary's shoulder. The doctor ushers them out and turns back to Claudia.

"Take this pill. Please, Claudia." he says in a tired voice. "No f-ing way." Claudia answers defiantly. The doctor rubs his forehead, like he's getting a headache. "Fine. We'll do this the hard way." He pulls a syringe from his pocket and injects it into her IV. She tries to stay awake and fails.

…

Several days pass in a similar fashion. Pretty soon Claudia stops dreaming about the Warehouse and starts remembering snippets of her life. Her mother and father, Joshua's accident and funeral, her best friend Angela. They let her out of the hospital. When she goes back to her house with her mom and dad, Angela comes to visit. They talk about Angela's upcoming wedding.

Life passes comfortably for a few years. Claudia gets a job at the local bookstore, more out of boredom than a need for money. The doctors won't let her within twenty feet of a computer, which she sometimes finds suspicious. But they all assure her it is perfectly normal paranoia, left over from the schizophrenia and that it will go away as long as she stays on the pills. She believes them and takes the pills wholeheartedly.

Then one day in early March, almost four years since she came home, Claudia forgets to take her noontime dosage. The nagging feeling of wrongness grows all day, and she purposely doesn't take her evening pill. That night she dreams of strange people. She remembers their names in the morning. Pete Lattimer, Myka Bering, Irene Frederic, Artie Neilson, Leena, and the last names MacPherson and Weisfeld. She goes to work that day and gets on the computer. Surprisingly, she finds she knows exactly how to get the information she's after. A little while later she starts typing in names on a government site.

Full Name: Peter Charles Lattimer

Date of birth: August 9, 1974

Place of residence: 1224 West Jefferson Street, Washington D.C.

Occupation: Secret Service

Special agent Peter Lattimer, husband of special agent Myka Bering-

Claudia stops and clicks on the name Myka Bering.

Full Name: Myka Opheilia Bering

Date of Birth: September 14, 1974

Place of residence: 1224 West Jefferson Street, Washington D.C.

Special agent Myka Bering, wife of special agent Peter Lattimer, lives in D.C. With their son Nigel Griffin Lattimer (age 6). Bering and Lattimer have been partners for seven years, married in November of 2010-

"So you guys DO exist." Claudia whispers softly. "Well, let's see if the rest do." She types in Artie Neilson. Nothing. She types in MacPherson and a long list of names come up. She scrolls through until she finds a picture that looks like the man in her dream. The information is blocked, but Claudia hacks around it and learns that MacPherson is real, the 'Warehouse' is real, and MacPherson runs it with the assistance of Irene Frederic. "Wow. No wonder they wanted me kept quiet. I somehow know of a top secret government program. Maybe I did used to work there." She types in Weisfeld and scrolls through, looking for a familiar face. Suddenly stumbling across a picture of the man she thought was Artie Neilson, she clicks on the link.

Full Name: Arthur Maximus Weisfeld

Date of birth: October 31, 1952

Date of death: February 19, 1970

Cause of death: executed for espionage against the U.S. Government

"Whoa. He's dead?" Claudia thinks for a moment. "Wait, how do I know this person? He died before I was born." She starts to wonder why she remembers this stuff, anyway. She looks down at the bottle of pills thoughtfully.

A few minutes later she's hacked into her medical records. The pills turn out to be memory suppressants. She's been taking them since the summer of 2009.

**Hahaha! I love making up peoples birthdays and stuff! Artie's birthday is on Halloween, how ironic is that? Also, Claudia started taking the pills the same time she started working at the Warehouse, 2009. This is a crucial plot point and you should all pay attention to this fact.**


	3. Runaway

** Well, here's the third chapter. I'm sorry it's so short. Beta'd by CMDonovann.**

** Disclaimer: I don't own Warehouse 13, don't make a profit.**

Chapter 3

Runaway

Claudia is now angry as well as confused. Her supposed family and friends have been feeding her memory suppressants and telling her she is psychotic, when really she is remembering real events._ But that doesn't make sense. I can't possibly know these people; Pete and Myka don't even work at the Warehouse and Artie Nielson - I mean Weisfeld – has been dead for forty-five years._ She becomes determined to find out what is happening to her and decides the best way to do that is to go and find the people from her dreams.

After work is done, Claudia goes home and packs a backpack full of clothes. She goes down to dinner with her parents, then when it is time for bed she climbs out the window and runs swiftly down her cul-de-sac. She gets on a bus and makes her way toward the country's capitol.

As the days go by, memories of life at the Warehouse come back to her in more detail. She remembers that their job is to collect dangerous artifacts,"Snag it, bag it and tag it" Artie had once said. She remembers that Myka has a ferret which she got out of a wishing kettle. She remembers that Pete once had an artifact on his back that almost killed him. But mostly she remembers that Artie is supposed to be alive and in charge of the Warehouse, and that MacPherson is a bad person. The only thing she can't remember is why this isn't how the world is today, why it's all different now.

As Claudia stands on the steps in front of the Lattimer's house, she has second thoughts. "WHAT exactly are you planning to say to them? 'Hi, my name's Claudia Donovan. I have dreams where we work together in a top-secret government Warehouse in South Dakota. Oh, and I might be insane.' Yeah, that'll go over well." But before she can turn around and leave, the door opens.


	4. An Alternate Reality

**Disclaimer: I don't own Warehouse 13. I only own Nigel, who is my first OC.**

Chapter 4

An Alternate Reality

"Hello?" A small boy peeks out from behind the door.

"Hey, you must be Nigel." Claudia says, smiling at the boy. _God, he looks just like Pete, _she thinks. The boy nods.

"Please come in." He opens the door all the way and motions for her to enter. The movement on such a little boy makes Claudia snort with laughter. He doesn't seem to notice her rudeness or, if he does, he ignores it.

Claudia enters the small apartment and asks, "Hey, where are your parents? I need to talk to them." Nigel shakes his head.

"They're not here. Myka's at work and Pete's at the bar again."

_ At the bar? _Claudia thinks. _Well, that's new. _She clears her throat. "Do you know what time they'll be home? I really need to talk to them, dude."

Suddenly Nigel's face lights up. "You're Claudia, aren't you?" he asks, beaming.

Claudia is taken aback. "Yeah, I'm Claudia. How did you know that? You're not even supposed to exist, sorry to break it to you."

Nigel smiles sadly. "I know. I shouldn't be here. _I_ am a direct result of your tampering with the space-time continuum."

Claudia stares at the boy. "What?"

"You don't remember, of course. But this universe – everything you see around

you – is how it is because of you. You created it."

As they have been talking Nigel has been leading Claudia to the living room. She sinks into an armchair. "I... created it?" she says faintly.

"Yes. There was an artifact that allowed the user to travel through time-"

"The Hangman's Friend noose." she interrupts.

"That's the one. Anyway, you discovered how to use it to send you to a specific time. You went back to save your parents from the car accident." He waves his hand around at the room. "It worked, obviously."

He sighs. "You created an alternate reality, one in which you had loving, rich parents. Because they could provide for you and Joshua, he was never as motivated as the Joshua you knew. He never went to that college and was later killed in an accident, not lost outside of time for twelve years. You never joined the Warehouse because you never met Artie at Joshua's school." He shrugs. "Paradoxically, because you never joined the Warehouse and traveled back to 1969, Artie never joined the Warehouse either." Claudia leans forward and puts her head between her knees, shaking her head as she tries to absorb this.

But Nigel continues to talk. "Because Artie died and didn't go on to pick Pete and Myka as new agents, they stayed on as Secret Service agents. Pete never recovered from his brief bout with alcohol and later married Myka. He beats her quite often."

Claudia is still shaking her head. "So this is my fault."

Nigel shrugs. "Well yes, but you had no way of knowing THIS would happen."

Suddenly remembering Leena, Claudia looks up again. "So what happened to Leena?"

Nigel chuckles. "Surely you must have realized the striking resemblance she bears to both Irene Frederic and Artie?"


	5. Back to the Start

** I hope the last chapter wasn't TOO hard to understand. If it was, I apologize, I am a big fan of time travel paradoxes. Also notice the insane amount of cliches in this story! I wasn't planning it like that, I swear.**

** Disclaimer: I only own Nigel. But as I make no money, I might as well not.**

Chapter 5

Back to the Start

Claudia's mouth falls open. "No way."

"Yes, she's gone because the two of them never met." Nigel says gravely.

"Because of me. This is all my fault." Claudia moans. "But..." She thinks for a moment. "Wouldn't I have been deleted too? When I changed things?"

"Oh you were." Nigel says wisely. "The you that actually worked at the Warehouse, she's gone. You've been remembering her life the past three years."

Claudia blinks. "Why?"

"That reality is beginning to bleed through to this one. " he says.

"Once again, I ask why?"Claudia is beginning to get frustrated. "And how do you know this stuff, anyway? You're not even supposed to exist."

"Therefore making me the perfect person to know. I was the only logical choice."

"But who chose you?" Nigel only smiles at her mysteriously. Claudia throws her hand up in the air. "Fine. Don't tell me." She looks at him anxiously. "How do we fix it?" He smiles again. "I think you already know how."

Claudia does know how, but she doesn't want to do it. "We have to get the noose and go back and stop... the other me. From saving my parents."

Nigel nods.

"Which means we have to break into the Warehouse and steal it from MacPherson. Yay, fun. Is he still evil in this reality?" she asks, meaning it as a joke. But Nigel answers.

"No, he didn't have Artie around telling him what to do all the time so he pretty much did things his own way. He never went over the edge."

"Okay. So All we have to do is get past him and run like hell."

…

Two days later they are in Univille, the clueless twenty-five year old hacker and the seemingly omnipotent six year old. They arrive at the B&B, which is run by an elderly Polish couple. Claudia starts to plan their break-in.

"The noose is in isle 4283, next to George Washington's wooden teeth, if I remember correctly." She frowns. "I wonder what those do."

"They attack anyone who looks at them. Washington went a bit crazy towards the end of his life." Nigel says absently.

"How do you know these things?" Claudia asks in amazement.

"I know everything about the Warehouse." Nigel reminds her.

"Great, do you know how we're gonna get past the MacPherson, should we happen to run into him?"

Nigel looks apologetic. "You're on your own for that."

…

Claudia runs towards the Warehouse holding a laptop she stole from the Polish woman. She enters through the Umbilicus, using her computer to hack the door. Nigel follows her as she creeps into the office.

They take two steps inside and then realize MacPherson is asleep at the desk. Fighting a sudden urge to punch the man, Claudia creeps down the stairs and into the Warehouse.

Not bothering to be quiet now, Claudia and Nigel hurry through the rows, Claudia reading the numbers under her breath.

"4279, 4280, 4281, 4282, here it is! And there's the noose!" She picks up the noose and says to Nigel, "Great, now let's get out of here before-"

She turns around and runs straight into Mrs. Frederic.

"Who are you?" Mrs. Frederic asks calmly.

"Uh, look, Mrs. F, it's nothing personal, I actually kinda like you, but..." she hits Mrs. Frederic across the head with a croquet mallet. Mrs. Frederic falls to the ground, unconscious and Claudia bolts for the door, Nigel right behind her. They sneak past MacPherson, who miraculously is still asleep, and return to the B&B.

They return the laptop and go upstairs to their room.

"You ready?" Claudia asks Nigel. He nods bravely and they grab the rope. Claudia and Nigel are transported back in time to the scene of Claudia's parent's accident.

They watch as a younger Claudia appears out of nowhere, clutching another noose in her hands. Claudia approaches her younger self. "You don't wanna do this. Trust me."

Younger Claudia looks majorly freaked. "Who the hell are you? How'd you get here?"

Older Claudia holds out a hand. "I'm you. I'm you if you follow through with this. You can't save them. Let it go."

Younger Claudia jerks back. "Why should I trust you? How do I know you're really me?"

Older Claudia takes her hands, doing what Nigel had told her to do. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her hands. A bright bluish white light radiates from Older Claudia's hands and travels in wave up younger Claudia's arms. Them Older Claudia disappears completely as the two are put together.

Claudia sees in her mind the scenes from this other Claudia's life. Waking up in the yellow room every day, her job at the book store, the pills, the computer pages with her friends names on it, Nigel as he tells her the story of the alternate universe. The lives of Joshua, Leena, and Artie for Mom and Dad's lives.

"It's not worth it." her own voice whispers in her head. And Claudia nods her head in acceptance and waves to Nigel, who is standing a few feet away. "Thanks, kiddo. I'll miss you."

"Don't." Nigel says. "I was put here to help you prevent the destruction of everything you hold dear. I've fulfilled my mission." With that he smiles and walks away, towards a brightly shining light that was emanating from a door hanging in midair. He goes through and is gone.


	6. Real Family

**In case you missed it, the two Claudias meshed together; Younger Claudia sort of absorbed AU Claudia into her. So Claudia remembers everything that happened to AU Claudia. And I'm not entirely sure where Nigel went, or came from. Sorry, **

**you'll have to make your own theories as to that. I don't actually write these stories, the plotbunnies have total control and they don't tell me everything; I just type! **

** This is the last chapter of this story. I hope you enjoyed it, even if it was a long string of cliches. Please review!**

** Disclaimer: Still don't own!**

** Beta'd by CMDonovann**

** Also please note this whole last chapter is family-type fluff.**

Chapter 6

Real Family

Claudia goes back to her own time, her own reality, and immediately puts the noose back in a box on a shelf deep in the Warehouse. Then as she is leaving she spots Artie, who is working in his office. She looks at him fondly, glad that he's not dead anymore. He notices.

"Claudia? Is there something you wanted, or did you just space out for a minute?" he says lightly, not really expecting an answer.

"You're important to me, you know that right?"

He blinks at her for a minute, wondering where THAT came from. "Yeah, I know. Listen, Claudia, are you feeling alright?"

Claudia snorts. "Yeah, I'm good. Better, actually. Look, I'm going home. See ya later."

Artie shakes his head as he watches her leave.

That night Claudia calls Joshua and they chat for a while. Then she spends the rest of the evening watching a movie with Pete and Myka. Eventually Artie shows up. Leena brings in some popcorn. Claudia looks from her to Artie and back again, wondering how she could have missed their resemblance before.

Claudia snuggles up between Pete and Leena on the couch. Just before she drifts off to sleep, she wonders,_Why did I risk losing this for people I never even really knew? THIS is my real family. _

**The End**


End file.
